Author Topic: 2024 Royal Rumble: Rhodes wins again; Bailey rules; Punk injured & out of WM 40  (Read 888 times)

MCWAY

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It's a bit of a sad day when the women out do the men at the Rumble.

First "surprise" was the return of Naomi (entrant #2). Then came TNA women's champion (with belt in tow), Jordynne Grace. But, the biggest pop by far was Jade Cargill. Not only by her entrant, but by her scooping up all 300-lb of Nia Jax and dropping her on her back and chucking her over the top rope single-handedly (with a little leap from Jax herself).

But in the end, Bailey (entrant #3) went the distance and won it.

Men's rumble was interesting early, with Jey and Jimmy Uso being entrants #1 and #2 respectively. They had a little surprise, with the return of Andrade (entrant #6) and, if anyone cares, Omos.

A bit of a surprise was Bron Breaker, who actually eliminated Omos by himself. CM Punk got #27 and was among the final four, with Drew McIntyre (#30), Cody Rhodes (#15) and IC champ Gunther. Punk tore his triceps during the Rumble (perhaps when he eliminated McIntyre). Rhodes tossed Gunther out again.

It all looks as if Punk was going to win it. But, he self-sabotaged by screaming, "I didn't wait 10 years just to lose to Dusty's kid!". He went for the Go-To-Sleep. But, Rhodes grabbed the leg, told Punk about himself, and sent him sailing over the top.

After a victorious scream, smooching the mat, and obligatory pointing to the WM 40 sign to cue the pyro, The American Nightmare looked to the skyboxes in Tropicana Field (in my hometown of St. Petersburg, FL) and looked dead at the Tribal Chief (who to no one's surprise, retained the Universal championship against Orton, Knight, and Styles) and declared he wants Reigns at 'Mania.

However, when word got out that Punk tore his triceps, they had Seth Rollins confront Rhodes and insist that the 2023-2024 Rumble winner face him for what he called the "Dusty Rhodes title" (the new big gold belt), rather than Reigns' Universal strap.

If they go Rollins vs. Rhodes for WM 40 with Punk out, does that mean Reigns keeps his belt even longer?

njflex

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IS REIGNS that needed or good to keep him strapped so long?the roster is a weird mix ,,i thought they were going to break up the damian priest crew..

MCWAY

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IS REIGNS that needed or good to keep him strapped so long?the roster is a weird mix ,,i thought they were going to break up the damian priest crew..

Judgment Day may break up, depending on when (or if) they let Priest cash MITB successfully. I'm thinking it'll happen the RAW after WrestleMania (Dolph-Ziggler-style).

When Rhodes won the Rumble, I think we all thought it was a foregone conclusion that it would be Reigns and Rhodes again, with Reigns finally jobbing to Rhodes to "finish the story".

Now, with Punk out, they're teasing a renewed Rhodes and Rollins feud. Rollins is pitching that his world title is more valuable than Reigns' Universal belt, because the Tribal Chief is being a Tribal wuss. Rollins called him out on Raw, stating that the reason they made the world title is because, "These people are sick and tired of Roman Reigns showing up every other week, then every other month, then every six months, then not defending the title, then cheating to win every single time he has a chance to be an honorable man!"